SAN FABIAN – The mayoralty bet of the Liberal Party in this coastal town said that the quarry and dredging operations applied for by Trans Global Incorporated in the Sangguniang Bayan will not push through. Liga ng Barangay Federation President Danny Agbayani, who is eyeing the mayoralty post in 2013 here, said the application will be stalled because of the uproar of the people, acrimonies from cause oriented groups and the adverse media coverage.
“From the beginning I was already opposing the sand mining. Sinasabi nila na ito ay river dredging pero hindi, ” he said. Various sectors here, including environmentalist groups, suspected that TGI was not really for quarry operations and to dredge the Bued River in Cayanga village but aimed at in exploiting the magnetite and gold tailings at the river bed .
Agbayani also rebutted not only the offer of TGI to dredge the mouth of river for free in five years, but also its plan to pay a staggering P600 thousand a month tax of its quarrying to the coffers of the village and town here. “Iyong sinasabi lang nila iyong advantages para sa kanila, pero iyong disadvantages hindi pa nata-topic!”
He said most members of the Sangguniang Bayan (town council) did not meet during regular session but opted to meet at nighttime just to approve the first reading of the resolution that will give authority to TGI of its signified undertaking.
Agbayani further said it was he and Councilor Robert Basbas, SB committee chair on natural resources who just resigned , who opposed the resolution vehemently. Mayor Irene Libunao, Agbayani’s opponent in the next year’s poll, said recently in an interview with this paper that it was high time to dredge the river because of the flood every time the river swells. Libunao said she maintains a hand-off stance on the application of TGI with the town’s council. “It is up for the SB to decide if it will give a permit or not,” Libunao said.
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